Façade
by xLittleMissReality
Summary: "Her eyes narrowed at the sight before her. This was not how it was supposed to be." References to Teen Titans -Cartoon- & Batman -Comics- the entire story.
1. Meeting

Title: Façade

Chapter: 1

Fandom: Batman/Nightwing/Young Justice/Teen Titans (cartoon)

Original Concept Credit to: Icy Brownie (_**http :/ www. Fanfiction. net/ s/ 7222788/ 1/ YJ_Meets_Nightwin****g**_ w/out spaces)

Summary: Dick Grayson is sent to the past encountering 3 of his self at different points of his life to save the future from being destroyed. A bright violet light seems to be leading the way. But for the life of all of the people involved, they can't figure out what is happening...

Pairings: Minor DickxBabs and TimxStephanie but only because it's needed in their history

Rating: T (for cussing)

A/N Hi readers! How's it going? No. I'm not hyper. (Cough.) Anyways this concept was originally done by Icy Brownie on a fic called _**YJ meets Nightwing**_and I've adopted it due to a lack of ideas. Go and read it if you like. It doesn't reveal too much because I'm DRASTICALLY CHANGING PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING…. #.# Yeah. Oh well. The whole thing's 1,990 words according to this site's word counter and it's not long, if you want to read, go to this link! (without spaces) _**http :/ www. Fanfiction. net/ s/ 7222788/ 1/ YJ_Meets_Nightwin****g**_ It won't take too long, won't reveal much, and I think it's a bit more enlightening if you read it first. So you get a sense of where it came from?

Haha, I've adopted it. It makes me feel like I have my own ward xD Just kidding. Anyways…

**Disclaimer: The original concept for this story belongs to **_**Icy Brownie**_** and the new ideas and new plotline belong to me. Nightwing, Batman, Young Justice, and all of the characters, places, settings, etc. belong to DC Comics and other respective owners. So there.**

**READ ME: Generally, when I refer to Richard Grayson as Batman, I call him Dick. When I refer to Nightwing, I call him Richard. When I refer to Robin I, I refer to him as either Dick or simply Robin. When I refer to Bruce as Batman when Dick is there, I usually call him Bruce. Awesome. I might change this but this is how it goes for now.**

_Why yes I am going through a Batman and Robin phase, why do you ask? c:_

_NOT BETA'D OR READ THROUGH. (Will be read through eventually)_

_Before you go an say that this has so many things wrong according to the comics and the show whatever, I'm bending some rules to shape my plot. Sorry if that bothers you._

.xX'-~-'Xx.

Her eyes narrowed at the sight before her. This was not how it was supposed to be. A hand dug into the ground, full of dust and crumbled cement. Letting the rubble slowly slip from her hand, she closed her eyes and opened them again, suddenly glowing with a bright violet light. She began to levitate in the air, light coming from every inch of her body. Her hair seemed to be flowing in the air as if under water. Suddenly, her arms rose above her head and a gust of wind overtook the town. Just like that, she was engulfed in a sphere of her light and she disappeared. The city, or rather, what was left of it, still sat destroyed, fire swallowing it.

This was not how it was supposed to be.

.xX'-~-'Xx.

"I hate you Grayson!"

"Hey, it's not my fault that you got zapped by a freeze ray." Dick said, taking a quick look at the young boy. "Actually, you should've been able to dodge it… Are you losing your touch Damian?" Although he was teasing, the young boy refused to acknowledge it as what it was. He only scowled.

"You know that I was distracted by—." Damian stopped. Dick grinned.

"Distracted by what, Damian?" He said this in such a happy, sing-song voice, that Alfred, who was standing next to Damien, had to stifle a chuckle.

"I—You—I hate you Grayson!" Dick chuckled.

"Yes, I think you've already mentioned that." Damian glared, doing his best imitation of the Bat-Glare, which was pretty good given he was 11 years old (1)

"Nice try, but you have nothing on Bats." Dick said, an enormous grin taking up half of his face. This could be the same of Damian, except the corners were turned down. As it turns out, during an issue yesterday Batman and Robin had faced a villain who had acquired a freeze ray and zapped Damian, who had been too busy trying to get a rather clingy kitten off of his face, which had jumped out of a tree as soon as it had seen him. The kitten was spared as Damian finally was able to get it off of his face, but was unprepared and got hit. As a result of him being frozen in a chunk of ice until the battle was over and Dick was able to free him, he had fallen sick. Now that it was over the next day, Damien spent the day yelling at the now Batman and sniffling. The boy all but growled at the man, which was could be changed at any given moment.

"It seems in your condition, you won't be able to do patrol tonight." The boy shot out of bed, a pile of tissues scattering around on the floor. Alfred let out a frustrated sigh before adjusting his gloves and throwing each wad away.

"You can't do this to me!" Damian shouted. Dick now looked more serious. He already had his suit on but his cowl still hung from his hand.

"I can. You're too sick to go out and if you continue moving around you'll get even more sick and won't be able to do any missions." Dick noticed his glare and dismissed it with a wave of the hand. "Would you rather I have you miss one night or one month?" Damian didn't think Dick would usually follow through with such threats as these, but this time, he realized, he was seriously thinking of taking it away from him. After several moments of long silence, Damian finally slumped back into the bed, arms crossed and frown evident (as if it weren't already).

"If you get yourself killed out there, don't say I didn't tell you."

"Hey, I am Batman, I've been Nightwing, and I was in the very same position you are right now, _Robin_. I'm pretty sure I can handle myself." Dick said, suddenly back into his cheeriness that made Damian want to emphasize on how much it made him want to puke. But he didn't. Instead, he raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Tsk, tsk, so little faith in your own mentor, Damian. If you're so worried, I'll have Oracle and Red Robin on comms." At this, Damian was once again sitting straight up in the bed.

"Red Robin? _Drake?_ Do you have a death wish? You might as well just not go." To this, Dick just chuckled and ruffled his hair.

"Now, now. Little Timmy has been doing very well and should I remind you that he has worked with many teams and has been on his own _successfully_ for a long time now. Even as Robin he was on his own and did fine. You really shouldn't doubt him by now." (2) Damian just sulked back in his bed. Most would call it possessiveness but Dick obliviously called it a brotherly hate/love. "I'll be fine." The man put on the cowl in his hands, marveling in the way it made him feel more powerful and sentimental. It never ceased to amaze him the feelings as he put on the cowl. _Bruce, wherever the hell you are, you better come back._ Dick laughed to himself. If the old man really was in Hell, he'd scare Satan himself with a glare and come right back.

"Alfred." Dick said, now using a lower voice, similar to what Bruce had done when he became Batman. "Make sure Damian stays here."

"Of course, Master Richard." He smiled, which looked strange with the cowl, but did nonetheless. "Good luck out there."

"I hate you Grayson." Said Damian suddenly. Then, cautiously, and more hesitant, he added another statement to follow up. "…Be safe." Dick nodded, then swept from the room, undoubtedly to the Batmobile. He called Oracle.

"Hey Babs…"

.xX'-~-'Xx.

Richard Grayson had just finished his shift at the Police Station and decided to head home, finishing a few files, and placing them in his desk. He paused before he exited the building, staring at the wall clock; it was 11:30.

_Crap_, he thought, _I'm gonna be late for patrol._ Suddenly a mischievous grin spread across the young man's face. He waved goodbye to the few people left in the vicinity and walked into the cold night air. Casually, he continued down the street before looking if anyone was around. Not that it mattered, but being Bat-trained led him to be cautious, if not overly so. He blended into the shadows and, after a series of jumps and flips, was running along rooftops.

In less than five minutes (which in the car would have taken twenty minutes in the car; 15 on a _civilian_ motorcycle) he was back in his humble abode. He smiled at the time. He still had ten more minutes before his nightly patrol. Looking into the fridge and grabbing ingredients for a sandwich, he made one and then did nothing short of devouring it. Two minutes to spare. Changing into his costume, he looked at a reflection of himself, bright blue eyes exposed. After a bit, he blinked and shook his head, interrupting whatever thoughts were going through the young man's head.

Carefully, he placed his mask on, using spirit gum (3) to make sure his mask stayed on. He never risked capture and having the villain peel his mask off. Grabbing his eskrima sticks, he bounded out the window.

Not a moment later did a bright violet light take him away.

.xX'-~-'Xx.

Robin, dressed in his civilian clothes, smirked as the cave's entry system called "Batman-02." Laughing as he watched his other teammates scramble to the main room, he walked casually to the spot.

He, of course, was the first to arrive, followed by Kaldur. Next came Superboy and Megan, then Artemis and Wally. They were bickering, as per usual, still walking down the corridor.

"I can't believe you ate my chocolate! That was a gift, you know!"

"Hey, I'm a speedster, remember? Fast metabolism!"

"It was my property!"

"I didn't know, it was just there!"

"Just there?** Just there?** What part of Property of Artemis didn't you get? It was labeled!"

The two heroes in training quickly stopped arguing at the sight of Batman staring at them. Just a glance from the Batman would've shut any criminal up, imagine what a stare made them feel (let alone the Bat-glare at that!) Robin stifled his giggle.

"I am calling you for reasons I can't explain but we do need to get to the bottom of it. Two people have shown up and we had to figure out why they are here. Usually this would be a League mission, but I felt that you should be involved." Batman stared right into Robin's eyes, whose eyebrows rose in surprise. At this point, Batman was directly talking to him. Batman signaled to the shadows with a look, which Robin knew to be "come out now." So did the people coming out, obviously meaning it wasn't directed at him. Even if they were, it wouldn't make any sense. He was already out. It worried him still, however, because no one knew those signals and Batman's communication but Robin himself. His eyes would have widened even more if they could have. If they understood Bat communication…

"Why don't we just ask them why they're here?" Artemis deadpanned. Two figures stepped out from the shadows.

"We would tell you." Said one.

"But we don't know ourselves."

Standing before them stood another Batman and an unknown man wearing a black body suit with some sort of bright blue emblem across his chest.

All of their mouths opened in unison.

.xX'-~-'Xx.

"Oracle to Batman, do you read?"

"Loud and clear." He nodded, still looking straight ahead, knowing that somehow, Barbara was watching.

"Batman to Red Robin, can you hear me?"

"Yeah." Tim blinked. Usually, he would've been out in the field with Dick, but Dick had been forced by him to rest a bit. Although Tim knew Dick could take care of himself—very well, he knew—he still didn't like him to be alone. Things in Gotham always ended up turning out to be pretty odd. Things tended to go wrong when nothing should and Tim's detective skills told him something was bound to happen. Statistically or something, either way tonight seemed off.

Oracle and Red Robin both heard the shift in Dick's movements—normal people wouldn't and even they had to strain to hear it. Dick had jumped to another building, and Barbara adjusted her cameras.

"Batman to Oracle and Red Robin; I saw a suspicious flash of light. Switching to first view cameras." This basically meant that they would be seeing exactly what Dick was seeing, a first person point of view.

"I'm switching you to night vision so we can see better and just in case we need to document anything for references. You know the drill." Oracle said this indifferently, tapping of keys filling the comms and suddenly Dick's world was tinted green. Tim's eyes were concentrated on the screen and scanned only to notice something on the left.

"Hey, Dick, off to the left there was some movement." Dick quickly darted to said direction, narrowing eyes for any other signs of movement. A bright flash went across the screen and then all they could see was static.

"Batman? Batman? Red Robin to Batman!" He panicked. "Dick!" Aliases were dropped. "Shit, Dick, this isn't funny, answer me!" He swore again. "_Oracle!_" She grimaced at his harsh tone, but she was also worried.

"He isn't showing up on the other camera angles. A bright light and then nothing. Nothing!" She was exasperated, and wanted nothing but to know what was going on.

"I'm going out there." Before she could say a word, he swept out the window. Tim had gotten changed as soon as the light flashed the screen. In a few minutes, he was at the last place Dick was. After an hour, they were able to determine something horrifying thanks to Tim's detective work and Oracle's computer control.

Dick wasn't in Gotham. He wasn't anywhere, universally and beyond.

.xX'-~-'Xx.

Dick frowned at the sight before him. He was in an alleyway during the daytime. He checked the computers in his glove and quickly found himself to be in Gotham still. The tough part of it all was that it was daylight. He needed to find out what happened.

_This is either the work of illusions, time travel, drugging, or someone knocked me out. It can't be drugging or knocking me out—I would be feeling the after effects right now and I would probably still be in the captor's possession. _He quickly jumped to the top of one of the buildings he was sandwiched between. Using a special feature in his mask, they were used as goggles and magnified his senses. He focused in on a stray newspaper, searching for the date.

_Where is it? Oh found it… Hold on._ He glanced at the date. _Definitely time travel. But who? Or why? How?_ He was about to go through his mental list of villains when a bright violet light appeared in the alley he himself was in moments before. His eyes widened at the sight.

_It's Nightwing. It's also the same violet light I saw earlier, and as far as I know, I am—was the only Nightwing on Earth. Only one way to find out. _It was pretty reckless of Dick, pretty thoughtless for the first trainee of Batman, and extremely irresponsible for the cowl. Bruce would have frowned. Dick shook his head. It wasn't the time for this.

He swiftly jumped down from the building and deflected a wingding thrown his way by Nightwing.

"Who are you and why are you impersonating Batman?" Questioned Nightwing, still on defense. Perhaps a bit pissed that the man was able to deflect a perfect shot.

"I'm not impersonating him, I'm simply taking up the mantle." Nightwing analyzed the situation in his head, but Batman was quicker.

"I'm not here to play games so I'll get right to the point. You are me and I am you. I am Richard Grayson." Reckless, sure, but he knew no one was around and had already checked for planted bugs if any. There were none. Nightwing was caught off guard.

"Who are you to say that I'm Richard Grayson? I don't even recognize the name." If it were anyone else, Dick would have believed him, but he knew himself. He didn't know anyone better than himself.

"Don't fool around with me, I know who you are. I would peel off your mask but you're using spirit gum." Richard flinched but it was barely visible to any other person.

"Judging by the way your costume is pretty clean says that you just started patrol and this is my original concept before I started adding changes and gadgets... You're me a few months after I left Batman." Dick was silently enjoying tormenting his younger self, who he knew at that point was very serious trying to prove himself.

"Stop messing with me! You can't be me. This is ridiculous." Nightwing was itching to pull out his eskrima sticks but decided against it. He had no idea who this lunatic could be.

"Is it really? Ask me anything. I think I can tell you. It's been awhile since I was at this point of time, but still I think I'll remember most of it."

"This point of time? Time travel? You're trying to convince me with time travel. How stupid. That is the worst cover I've ever heard, and—" He stopped himself.

"You've worked with Beast Boy, who gives the worst excuses ever." He said this with a small smile. Nightwing frowned. It looked so strange under the cowl.

"If you're really me, why are you dressed as Batman?"

"I can't tell you. It will endanger the future, I'm sure." A steady gaze was held between the two men before Richard (Nightwing) blinked and turned away. Dick, after a moment of consideration and a calculation of whether or not it was safe (it was) gently took of the cowl. Piercing and distinguishing blue eyes now looked down at Richard, who now accepted it. Their silent conversation through their eyes had convinced him of the situation as it was, so having him take off the cowl was an added thing just to reassure the young detective. Richard sighed.

"What do you know so far?"

"We've been sent back in time by a mysterious force or villain for a reason currently unknown. We're back in the time when we were in YJLA. (3) I'm guessing you didn't get any warning before the events of the travel." Richard shook his head. During this talk, Dick realized he was using his "Batman voice" but decided not to care. "There aren't any sayings that could be said that there won't be any other versions of us to show up and no other dimensions have shown up. So far there aren't any others other than you and I." Said Dick, pulling the cowl back on. "Basically, I don't know much more than you do or what you could have figured out. I've only been here before you for a five minute period, perhaps." He trailed off. "You're not going to like what I'm about to say." Richard swore.

"We have to see Batman, don't we?" Dick sighed. If only Richard knew how lucky was to have Bruce still alive…

"We do. But if there's anything that needs to be settled or a solution to this problem, Bruce would know." Richard scowled but accepted it nonetheless.

"I think we have to let Robin—us in this time period, I mean—know that we're here. He's probably part of it." Dick hesitated at Richard's statement but it was logical. According to what the statistics in his head were saying, hiding it from Robin would just cause further complications.

_Curse you, Tim and your stupid statistics._ Dick shook his head. Tim didn't even know he was going to be what he was and wasn't even Robin yet. All he was at this moment was a kid genius that had discovered the identities of Batman and Robin. Dick smiled fondly at the knowledge that was just tapped upon. He had teased Tim about being a little stalker for weeks, teasing him by saying he could have his autograph. Dick considered the boy his little brother and was dismayed to know that Babs and Tim were probably searching for him that moment. Tim considered Dick his idol, another mentor, and a dear elder brother. They were related by everything but blood. He briefly wondered if he'd ever see him again but dismissed the thought as soon as it came.

Dick shook himself from his reverie and pulled out the signature grappling hook, turning to Richard with a grin. Richard laughed a little, pulled his out, and they soared through Gotham's shadows together.

It only took 15 minutes to get to the Wayne Manor and they used their knowledge of the one and only place in the entire house that wasn't impossible to get into to get it, which lead out to a vent shaft that opened out to the top of the main dining room's chandelier. The two master acrobats flipped down, knowing all of the blind spots and hacked as they needed. They knew Bruce would be in the Batcave and weren't surprised when Bruce, after all of their carefulness, still saw them coming and attacked.

"Bruce, we're not here to hurt you," assured Dick, while dodging a kick.

"We're here to talk." Richard finished, flipping over him.

"We just need you to stop attacking for a moment." Dick's voice was strained as he jumped over Bruce's arm, extended in a punch, and used it as a beam to grab him around his neck and flip, then pin him down to the floor. It didn't last long as Bruce used both legs and quickly retracted them back into their chest before propelling them out, causing him to lift off the ground and result in him being back on his feet again.

"Could you just stop—." Richard did a flying turning hook kick 360, which was swiftly dodged by Batman (Bruce), who used that to go and kick at Dick, who also dodged, by millimeters.

"BRUCE. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP ATTACKING LONG ENOUGH TO NOTICE OUR FIGHTING STYLES." Richard was raving. He'd already been through this enough and at his time, he was still irked at Bruce for kicking him out. (4) Dick sighed, but looked to Dick and as Bruce charged at them both, they did a quadruple backflip in perfect synchronization before pulling another back handspring and landing gracefully and silently to the ground. Dick smirked while Richard fumed. Batman was finally eased, but still tense, as the former Boy Wonders knew him too well.

"Dick?" They both nodded. "Time travel." Nods again. "Explain if you could."

Dick had to share the same half-assed explanation he had given to Nightwing, with small changes and updates from Nightwing himself.

"I'll tell you everything you need to know about the future." Said Dick. Richard was suddenly alert and angry.

"Including my timeline? That should be up to me—did you not think to consult me about this?" Dick's Bat-glare was just as intimidating as Bruce's but Richard was still used to it.

"Unlike you I've gone through everything and know what you know and much, much more. He needs to know everything if he can make a proper assessment of the situation."

"This is my time. I don't care if you've already gone through this, it should still be my right." Richard was determined to get his way.

"You know he needs to know all of this and if you don't then I can't believe how stubborn and _stupid_ I was at that age. You know this needs to happen if we want to get back to our timelines and now is not the time to let your bottled emotions out. Trust me, you will get your time." _And regret not trying to reconcile things sooner._ Dick thought, regretfully. He wanted to cry but it wasn't appropriate in the situation. After a bit of thinking for the youngest vigilante in the room, he finally replied.

"If this is going to happen, I'll explain my parts." And so it began.

(A/N This isn't extremely canon, as you've noticed throughout this entire story so far. It has to do with the way **Icy Brownie** had written her story and the way I want to write it. Their timeline is going to be a bit strange, but it will work –somehow–. This is mostly following Young Justice, Teen Titans (the cartoon), and a bit of Dick's being Batman. The rest is mostly made up for the sake of the story. Thanks. Back to the story. (Yes it isn't over yet.) **I'm sorry Carrie isn't mentioned in this story and in the Robin timeline PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!)

Dick cleared his throat.

"After Young Justice, I felt like I needed to be my own person instead of being under your shadow all of the time. And being the shadow of a shadow isn't the best thing. I set off on my own. I went around the country as Robin and one day I happened to come across Jump City. I came across a minor crook. After somewhat of an incident, I accidentally ended up with another team. With Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg, who I had met during said incident… We formed the Teen Titans but after awhile we split to do certain things as duty called." At this point, Richard interrupted.

"You had called me. You said that if I were to become my own hero, you didn't want me to be Robin. You basically kicked me out of your life at that point. I was talking to Superman and he told me a legend from his home planet, which is where I got the name Nightwing." As much as Dick wanted to protest, he didn't and let Richard set his frustrations. He himself sometimes had these frustrations and was now testing Bruce. Before they left, he would wait to see if anything was done. _C'mon Bruce. I know you care. Step up. Maybe not now, but later. Just step up._ "I've been on my own for a few months now, but I still keep in touch with the Titans."

"Richard." He turned and looked at his older self, who had now taken off his cowl once again and now used his normal voice. Under any other circumstances, Richard would have laughed at the voice change. "I need you to step out as I tell him the rest of the future." Richard wanted to protest, but the desperate look in Dick's eyes made him leave. Dick let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Truth is, at his point, I was pretty miffed. You don't know this yet, but you are going to have a lot of replacements for me when I leave. Jason Todd was the second Robin. He…" Dick blinked back tears. "He was beaten to death by the Joker. He was brought back to life and was a criminal and took up Joker's first identity as Red Hood. He's the prodigal son of our little 'family'." Dick paused, looking at Bruce as he took in the information. He seemed indifferent, but Dick knew better. This might endanger the future and he might not take Jason at all, but he knew that after he told enough, he would be able to let him see that this timeline needed to happen. Somehow he'd understand. That is, if this didn't end up taking their memories from them.

"After Jason died, you were pretty much a reck. A boy named Tim Drake came." Bruce looked as if he wanted to protest, but Dick knew that Bruce knew better than to interrupt. "He is a boy genius. I think he's 9 or 10 right now. He figured out who we were at age nine because he was able to connect the dots between my fighting style and you taking in a ward and then Batman coming out with a new sidekick." Worry flashed in Bruce's eyes.

"Don't worry—he knew, ah, knows he had to keep the secret safe and never told anyone. But when you lost Jason he knew Batman needed a Robin. So he came to me." He laughed at the fond memory. "He wanted me to go back and become Robin. But I didn't. I think I was still pretty mad at you for kicking me out in the first place." Dick continued to smile.

"Tim ended up becoming the next Robin. Alfred actually trained him first but I," he said with pride, "was the one who knew he had potential. Anyways, we both knew that he would be a great Robin, and eventually you took him in. You loved him too. He stepped out of the little legacy I left behind and was his own person. Didn't stop the press from comparing us." He chuckled as he remembered the headlines. "Robin: Before and Now-What Has Become of The Boy Wonder." He shook his head at the stupid things they had said in those articles. "He was more independent and had to do lots of things on his own. He had to leave though, because his father made him.

Then Stephanie showed up. She was Tim's girlfriend and you were hoping to get him back. But she failed you so you fired her. Then she tried to prove herself to you as to regain her Robin status but failed and you said she could never do crime fighting ever again. She won back trust eventually and now she's Batgirl, courtesy of Babs. The final Robin is Damian Way—Uh…" Dick contemplated telling Bruce for a moment. It was terrible and he felt the tears come to his eyes and suddenly he wished he had kept the cowl on. He decided to continue his story.

"You died. Well, we're not sure, really. But the body matched your DNA… There aren't any clues that led us—Alfred and I—to believe you were still alive. Tim was kind of delusional about it and about proving that you were still alive but Alfred and I had given up hope and were trying to get over it as fast as we could. We were just so… sad. In your will you actually told me not to be Batman. You know that?" Dick was crying.

"You probably do. And I really, really, sincerely wanted to just stay Nightwing. You had said I needed to be my own. You were respecting my wishes and I wanted to respect yours." Dick wiped his eyes. "Nightwing and Robin protecting Gotham, as it turned out, wasn't great. We weren't getting a lot of respect and people were telling us that if Batman was out it was only a matter of time before we were too. Then Jason took the cowl by force. He _stole_ the cowl." Dick grimaced.

"In his defense, being beaten to death by a crowbar by the Joker, then getting brought back to life, and always been living on the streets only surviving with crime does something to a person. So he impersonated you and was doing bad things to your name. Tim convinced me that Gotham needed Batman and Jason was ruining all your hard work." Dick sat back for a while, letting everything sink in. "Tim was too inexperienced to be Batman and Damian was only ten. He's eleven now, uh in my timeline, by the way. So I had to take the cowl. And then I knew that Tim needed to become his own hero so I told him. He didn't take well to it at first, since I just fired him if you boil it down, but he really needed to be his own person. I got Damian to be Robin."

He paused again.

"Damian _Wayne _is your biological son. With Talia Al Ghul. I know, it's crazy, but it's true. Man Bruce, he was so much like you with a certain immaturity. No matter how long you're trained, a ten year old's a ten year old. No matter how different his immaturity is, it's still there. But still, he is so much like you. He kept to himself, really sarcastic, and had a sharp wit. But he was trained to be an assassin. After we got past everything he and I were Batman and Robin, just as Gotham needed. I was on patrol when things happened. Damian was sick and I forced him to stay in bed. Oracle—that's Babs. She got paralyzed by the Joker and had to let go of her Batgirl identity to become Oracle. Tim became Red Robin as he left. Anyways I had Tim and Babs on comms and I see a bright light. I go to check it out and here I am."

Several long moments took place. After the pregnant pause, Dick's eyes filled with tears.

"It's so good to see you again Bruce... Alive. I miss you. Damian wants to be like you. I keep wishing you were alive and we keep hoping you'll pop out of the blue somewhere and say that everything was just a cover while you tracked down a villain but the body… I miss you." Dick finished, not knowing what else to say. Bruce finally left a hand on his shoulder.

"It's your past. I'm sure you are fine as Batman and I couldn't have anyone better to take up the mantle." Dick smiled fondly at the man, soaking in all that he heard.

"I hope that this doesn't make you want to prevent anything that happens. This needs to happen, Bruce and I'm sure you know it. Every little detail in this story needs to happen. As soon as I leave, I need you to forget everything. I know that if you didn't, you would never take in Jason and that would screw up _everything_ and probably for the worse. Just do it. It's painful, but we all went through his death together. And we all moved on and he's changed now Bruce. I've been Batman for a year now and I just found out all of your burdens. I understand now."

Bruce nodded. That was all Dick needed.

"Nightwing." Called Bruce. Dick pulled the cowl back on and if it weren't for Dick's costume being so much lighter for his fighting style and him being slimmer for his acrobatics, they would have been identical in costume together.

Richard showed and looked at the Batmen.

"Are we going to tell Robin?" Nightwing deadpanned. Bruce nodded after a second of thought.

"I have a feeling that whatever brought you here will require him. The team may know as well. Right now, the Dick in this timeline is at Happy Harbor with the Young Justice League. We can all teleport there and the beam won't announce you both. You will watch and wait in the main room. Understood?" Bruce looked at the two men, who both gave firm nods.

With that, they set off to the alleyway where the Richard Graysons first arrived; heading into the telephone booth and so began this journey.

.xX'-~-'Xx.

"I knew you were there." Robin said, astonishing the team but not the strangers. "But what I don't get is who you are." The two only smiled—a site all too familiar for to the team. The fact about the familiarity made them weary that they couldn't easily place why it was so familiar.

"I am Nightwing." The man in the black body suit and the blue emblem across his chest had stepped up, adjusting his domino mask with a push.

"I'm Batman." Said the second Batman. Well no duh. His voice was low and intimidating, just like the current Batman. Were they from a different dimension or something? Only one thing Robin knew for sure.

They were messing with them.

"We're from the future." The two said together.

"The… future?" Questioned Megan. Batman spoke up. Future? Maybe it was Batman in the future, along with an associate. But the other Batman looked younger than _his_ Batman. This made no sense.

"Yes. We will talk about everything as soon as we're done. You're all dismissed." They turned to leave. "Robin, stay here." They all sent backward glances towards their friend and the intruders but Batman was there and Batman knew all. They couldn't hurt them. They were with Batman, hell, one _was_ Batman. They left eventually, leaving just the four.

Batman glanced at the two and they both started securing the room. They understood Bat communication as well as Robin did, even better, in fact. Weird.

"All areas are secure. No bugs or cameras are found and mental links can't be established." This would've made Robin panic, but Batman was there, which made a hell of a lot of a difference.

"This is freaky." Said Nightwing, a bit awkward, and happily noted by Dick, his former self was back to his normal personality other than just brooding over the Batman of his time. "Now I know how you felt." Dick only chuckled. The pair sent a look to the Batman.

_You have to be the one to tell him that we're him from the future. If we told him, it would take several times just to convince him we really are form the future._ Batman nodded.

"Robin. This is information that is complicated and beyond any of our known information. They are you from the future." The second Batman nodded and Nightwing just smirked a bit.

"Are you sure Batman? How do you know?"

"I know things."

"Why is he dressed as Batman? Is he really me? Are you sure—" Just as before, Dick took off the cowl to reveal his cerulean blue eyes while Richard pulled out the remover for the spirit gum, revealing the same blue eyes as the second Batman. Robin knew by looking into their eyes that they were his own, but more experienced. Emotions were still running through Dick so they were expressive.

"We've come to the past for reasons unknown yet we've had to come to your time. A bright violet light was the thing that captured us and transferred us here. I previously had it recorded in the goggles built into my cowl, but it got wiped out. We feel as if you need to know some things before we try and figure things out." Dick pauses, looking to Richard. "We'll tell him about the Robins for now. I'll leave out some details about the last Robin for now." Richard had been informed about Damian but not all of the information.

"The Robins?" Dick was starting to get worried again. This was extremely strange.

With determination, the two began to tell the tale of the Robins.

"So basically, I broke off from Batman and Young Justice only to land back onto another team but as the leader, then became Nightwing. For circumstances that I'm not allowed to know about," he sent a quick glare to Dick, "I have to take up Bruce's alias and take on his illegitimate son as the next Robin and have been doing so for about a year. In between that I have been replaced by Jason Todd, the future Red Hood, Timothy Drake, the future Red Robin, Stephanie Brown, the future Batgirl, and Damian Wayne, who is the current Robin for you." They nod.

"Don't sweat about knowing about the part about us becoming Batman. I'm not allowed to know either." Nightwing said. But Robin was furious.

"You replaced me just like that." Robin said, turning on the current Batman. "You just went a replaced me! You even fired me! What's wrong with you? I thought we were partners, but I guess that means nothing to you."

"No, that isn't what I meant, it sounds bad but if you knew everything—" Dick tried to protest, while Nightwing was saddened that he was exposed to the rejection so early.

"But I can't and from what I see here, it's just a load of meaningless junk that I still even be on this team."

"You have to understand that everything needs to happen and I only told you—"

"I don't care! Why doesn't Batman say anything?" Bruce stayed silent, at a loss for words. He couldn't reveal what happened.

"Four years! I've been wasting my life on you!"

Bruce could only watch sadly as his ward broke to pieces.

.xX'-~-'Xx.

"Today we're going to be investigating the underground toxic waste that's been flowing underground." Robin said, authority adding confidence.

"But Robiiiiiin…" Whined Beast Boy.

"I know it seems boring to you but haven't you noticed that whenever Plasmus breaks out, he has to chug on these toxic wastes. We need to get them out of the city so we can deal with Plasmus more easily." Robin paused to give Beast Boy a look that said "Just shut up and do it."

"Since it's not an urgent mission, we'll just go in the T-car." Cyborg grinned ear to ear, Robin giving a small smirk as well.

"A car ride? How spectacular! May we sing to the radio?" The whole team let out a smile at the alien. She really loved the radio.

"'Course, Star." Cyborg assured. "Just be quieter this time."

They piled into the car, every once in a while Starfire having Robin (who was sitting in the passenger seat) change the radio station to a song which she happily bobbed along to. Beast Boy was changing into different animals to annoy Raven. Cyborg was cooing to his "baby" at what a good job it was doing. Robin just enjoyed the company of the team.

They were so much like Young Justice… He mused. He missed them dearly, but he couldn't go back, not now. Starfire was like Megan. They both couldn't cook to save their lives, but they were friendly and hospitable. Beast Boy was like Wally, flirting around and trying to make others laugh (and failing, but at least he-they tried, right?). Cyborg in a strange way was like Aqualad. They were both capable of being exceptional leaders and trusted Robin with all they had. Raven was a combination of Artemis and Superboy. She had daddy issues, so did they. (But no one could ever match up to Raven's daddy issues… That's what happens when your dad is a demon. Anyways…) They're all aloof with the strange past and a wavering future.

He missed everyone so much.

As soon as they got to the site where they would go underground, Starfire used a laser beam to make a circle for them to go through. Raven lifted the circle and placed it to the side. They dropped one by one, Cyborg and Starfire providing the light source. Beast Boy changed into a dog to sniff out any toxic and to see in the dark. Mostly the former, though. They found a seven way intersection.

"Split up." He grabbed 2 flashlights from his utility belt and handed one to Raven. "It's a wind up battery, so you just wind it up when it dies." As they turned to leave to different spots, they see a bright violet light go off behind them. The flashlight topples to the ground. The flashlight is the only thing left of him.

"Robin!"

.xX'-~-'Xx.

"I can't believe after all of this time you—"

"Recognized. Robin-B01." The four arguing Bats went to the entrance. Since one Robin was already there fighting with them all, it meant that another timeline Robin had come.

"Uh, hello?" They stared at the newcomer. It looked exactly like Robin, but the costume was more similar to the one he had worn when he first became Robin. The traffic light colors were there, with green pants instead of underoo's, spiked hair, the yellow on the inside of the cape, and extendable bo stick out and ready to addition, he was a good 4 inches taller than him and looked to be about 16.

"Teen Titans' Robin." Nightwing whispered in surprise. 13 year old Robin looked like he was about to break down.

"What is going on here?"

"I have no idea." Robin, Nightwing, and Batman answered in unison, the four of them staring at each other.

_They've come together now, they have much ahead._

End chapter one.

**Edit: Page breaks fixed. For some reason they weren't showing up. Sorry about that...EDIT: I had to fix them AGAIN and just added my signature line break. It makes a hell of a lot more sense with the page breaks :P**

A/N Oh geez. You know how long this took? This is more planning than I've ever done for any fic ever. I'm really into it. I'm sorry that this chapter is really wordy and probably boring but I think it'll get more interesting. Without the A/Ns and everything this is more than 7,000 words. 17 pages on Microsoft Word. Golly. That's a record for me. No first chapter has been this long for me. My fingers are aching… This is going to be a very, very long process. I hope someone liked it.

Next chapter up soon (I hope.) Soon=maybe next week.

Haha.

I'm already planning on the next chapters and I actually have a plan instead of just throwing caution to the wind. I'm a maturing a bit! :O **a BIT

Thanks for reading! Tell me what you think!

(1) In this story, he's been Batman for about a year. Somewhere in there Damian must have turned 11. It's logic.

(2)I don't know if they're still feuding in the comics and I also don't remember specifically what happened but I remember that Batman had to go somewhere and Tim had to take care of Gotham for a bit. You probably know the rest.

(3) I don't want to put the dates... It'll be more complicated. I have also decided just to use "Young Justice League of America." Take it or leave it.

(4)I think that somewhere in the comics it says that Dick used some sort of glue to keep his mask on. Spirit gum was the first thing I could think of.

(5) I don't remember by what time Dick got over this little thing with Bruce kicking him out but for the sake of keeping some of Icy Brownie's plotline, I said that he's still angry. Moody Nightwing is going to be very prominent in the story for a while.


	2. Sorting Through

A/N I'm super happy that people are actually adding this to their story alerts, because it means you're willing to find out what happens next. :D I'd really like to thank a user named Jaxii. I'll get to that at the end.

**GO BACK AND READ THE FIRST CHAPTER WITH THE CORRECT PAGEBREAKS**_**!**__** I know a lot of you read it with the wrong pagebreaks and the wrong meaning would be derived if you don't go and reread it.**_** For example, there was a point where Batman and Nightwing stepped out of the shadows and then all of a sudden, Batman is able to contact Oracle. This is a time jump before he was transported to the past by the bright violet light. SEE? IT'S ESSENTIAL YOU RE-READ IT IF YOU DIDN'T READ IT WITH THE CORRECT PAGEBREAKS!**

**Oh also, Dick=Batman, Nightwing=Nightwing, Richard=Robin (16), & Robin=Robin (13). **

**Also, pagebreaks serve as either literal pagebreaks or time skips to the future. **

**Okay guys, I'll see you at the end :O**

.xX'-~-'Xx.

_"What is going on here?"_

_"I have no idea." Robin, Nightwing, and Batman answered in unison, the four of them staring at each other._

Robin, 16, looked at the sight before him. It was strange to say the least. Near him stood, well, _him_ but shorter and in the uniform he used when he was in Young Justice. He figured as much, as he had found himself in the zeta tube in Gotham after disappearing from a simple informational mission. Therefore, he'd been transported back in time or at least in another dimension. Right? Next was a figure he recognized but only slightly, just by what Starfire had (eventually) told them about her travel to the demented future. It was himself, but older. However, this Nightwing had shorter hair and was more muscular. Maybe he was in a different dimension. Nightwing was supposed to come from the version of the future where everything was corrupted. What puzzled him was the two "Batmans."

"Bruce?" One Batman nodded. "Why are there two of you?"

Nightwing sighs and shakes his head. "I'm really getting tired of this story being told over and over again. He better be the last one." Richard was even more confused but told himself to keep calm, but his fingers were twitching towards his extendable bo stick.

"We're all you from different points of your life." The other Batman said, firmly and calm.

"What? This is time travel then. But I become Bat-… No." The younger Robin nods, smug, but not for reasons one might think.

"Yep. Yep we do." Young Robin was smiling—no, _smirking_—as he saw his 16 year old self come in. He was hoping he would feel every ounce of anger that he felt at Bruce. That would be three out of four against Bruce.

"Actually, this is the second time I—we become Batman. He hurt his back for a bit." Dick didn't know why he decided to blurt this out now, especially since the other three didn't know. Yes, impulsive, and he regretted it the second it left his lips. However, they stayed quiet and he couldn't really figure out his past selves' expressions. They didn't know their own emotions.

"Uh…" Nightwing blinked. "We're going to start briefing you." The traffic light costumed boy nodded. "Which point are you in your life? Um…" He paused and looked at Richard, looking over the costume for any hints at the time frame. There were none. "Do you know who Jason Todd is?" Dick nods, satisfied at Nightwing's question and turns to face Richard.

"Yes. He's the second Robin." **(1)** Robin gapes. This one _knew. _He _knew_ about the replacement. He's not furious, yet the older version of himself is. What happened? Why isn't he angry too? Robin looks over at Nightwing, who also seems to be bothered at his acceptance as well. Maybe because of Tim taking the mantle too? He wasn't sure but he was still put off.

At this point both Nightwing and Dick looked at each other, suddenly uneasy. They would have to tell him and it wasn't going to be pretty….

"How long have you known Jason to be the second Robin?"

"Well a bit less than a year. I've been with the Titans for a year and a half."

"I can do this bluntly or dance around it but either way you're not going to like it." Nightwing said, and Robin could have sworn the man wanted to cry. Dick bit his lip, while Richard was worried at what could possibly be wrong.

"Go blunt. I want—need to know." Richard took a deep breath.

"Are you sure?" Dick nudges Nightwing. "Maybe we should wait a bit."

"He'd only find out. We know ourselves, he wouldn't stop until he found out the answer. Especially at this age. Remember Slade?" Richard grimaced at the name. It was behind him now but it still brought painful memories.

"Just tell me already!" Richard was practically shouting. Robin decides to take the incentive and tell him.

"Jason dies." Dick flinches. Robin's anger was getting the best of him and therefore he wasn't thinking thing through. Then again, none of them really were. Richard staggers, his bo stick clattering to the ground. Nightwing grabs him a chair.

"I'm sorry that you have to find out so soon. It was hard on all of us." Dick's face turns to stone but you can tell he's miserable, well, if you were a Bat.

"You didn't try to cushion it when you told me." Robin said, snide. He noticed his irritation seeping through his words.

"It's because you haven't met Jason yet. He doesn't mean anything to you. You actually hate the kid, without even knowing him." Dick snaps. Defensively, Robin puts his hands up.

"Touchy." Dick gives him a Bat-glare (less effective without the cowl) and walks to join Nightwing.

Batman—no—Bruce. He was Bruce because this was his boy… Well, boys. Bruce was conflicted. He knew that he could count on the oldest incarnation of his son to take care of it, however he was still a father of sorts and felt the need to say something. When he saw Richard on the ground, shaking from the news, he wanted nothing more than to comfort him. When Nightwing showed his outright detestation of Bruce, he wanted to make it right. But he couldn't. The future was the future and he couldn't do anything but know the information.

Bruce was caught in a dangerous time, where Bruce and Batman were intertwined and didn't know whether to be Batman and carry on with his mission or be Bruce and be Dick's father. No, Batman and Bruce had to be completely separate, black and white with the tiniest bit of mixture but even that was to be avoided. Not this much mixture. Everything was turning gray.

He had been watching the four the entire time from the shadows, analyzing the results. It seemed Robin—from his very own time—hated him too. He wished that he could explain why his future self did that but he couldn't. He always knew that he was going to have to leave and become his own man at one point. He couldn't be Batman forever (even though he would do his damned best to try and do so) and Dick certainly couldn't be Robin forever. Dick couldn't hide in his cape forever, as much he wanted. He was sure his future self had a reason, but Batman wouldn't let Bruce tell his son.

Batman shoved Bruce down into the depths and carried on with a hard, straight face. Bruce could only watch sadly from Batman's eyes.

Batman always won against Bruce.

Nightwing, showing a strange sense of compassion for his replacement, continued to comfort Richard, saying they all missed the replacement when he went. They were all sorry.

Shaking, Richard rose, his voice heavy and cracked. He'd been crying under his mask. Using his arm to wipe at his covered eyes, he let out a hiss as he stood.

"Who?" With a sudden jerk, Richard's head was facing them all. "Who killed Jason?" It couldn't have been from natural causes—not with all of the nut jobs in Gotham. Jason didn't have any diseases. "Who killed him?" He roared. Nightwing put a hand on his shoulder, looking down.

"The Joker. The Joker did it. He beat him to the brink of death with a crowbar, then put explosives in the building. He left him there." Richard's fist tightened.

"That bastard." He sat back down in the chair, heaving heavily.

"He was resurrected later by Ra's al Ghul, but he'd been completely changed. He went under the Joker's first alias, Red Hood and was—is a villain." Dick explains, a grave and serious tone.

The cave was silent.

Robin got up swiftly, all eyes now turned to him.

"Why aren't you angry? Bru—Batman replaced me! Replaced us! How could you go through that without being angry? Hurt?" Robin's voiced started to waver. "HE BETRAYED US ALL." He couldn't take it anymore and left the room.

"I'll get him."

"Yo Rob, what's happeni-" The team was in the Cave's living room, mulling over the current situation. Kid Flash was sitting, eating as usual, when Robin walks through the room. He was going to ask what was going on, but Robin stormed right past. Then, a few seconds later, another person came from the room, walking in long, quick strides.

"I do not believe we were supposed to see that." Kaldur said. The team nodded in agreement.

"What is going on in there?" Megan gave a weary look to the room where the Batmen were and the other stranger, Darkwing? No, that wasn't it but she could remember it later. They were from the future… A multitude of things could have happened…

Robin was on the summit of the mountain, angrily wiping at stray tears. It wouldn't be long before _someone_ went after him. He heard the sound of a grappling hook going off and soon enough, about 8 meters away from him, the hook attached to a boulder. If he really wanted to, he could just knock the hook off its grip…

A hand on his shoulder. Too late. His eyes were closed, afraid.

_Not Bruce, Not Bruce, anyone BUT Bruce._ He opened an eye, hesitant, and stared at a green glove. It was his 16-year-old self. It looked like he'd shoved his emotions down for him as his eyes weren't puffy anymore or face nearly as blotchy as they had been.

"What? Gonna tell me that Bruce did it for the good of Gotham? That we were sacrificed for his little "mission"? What?" His voice was strangely flat, which worried the older Robin.

"Actually, it was for the good of Gotham."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? 'Cause it's not working." Richard frowned at Robin. It was disappointing, but he didn't understand, but Richard didn't know how to make him.

"Look… It was my—our decision to go and become our own hero. So if we had to go and do that, well… Let's put it this way. Batman needs a Robin." Richard finished, satisfied. He now knew what had to be said.

"So? Why couldn't he ask us to come back?"

"He was respecting our wishes, I mean we were pretty adamant in the first place to leave.." Richard scoffs. "We were acting like spoiled brats. Complaining that we weren't being treated like adults. Kind of like Roy did. Anyways, Bruce thought of everything. He was able to see that we needed a break for a bit. We needed to not be so dependent." He could tell on Robin's face that he was thinking it through, finally starting to get Batman's deductive reasoning. "Jason needed guidance. Actually," Richard started to laugh, "Jason was found trying to steal tires off of the Batmobile." Robin started to crack a smile.

"Jason had lots of potential, but if Bruce didn't take him in at that moment, he would have become a criminal and ruined his life."

"Didn't he become a criminal anyways?" Robin pointed out. Richard spluttered.

"Well apparently… But I'm sure it had to do with his resurrection. You know how Gotham is." At that point, both Wonders, Boy and Teen respectively, were sitting down, looking into the city. "I know I've been doing a really bad time of explaining this all, but do you get what I'm saying?"

"Yeah. I do. It's kind of like that time when Kaldur didn't tell the team about the mole. It makes sense." Richard smiled. "But yeah… This whole… situation or whatever has been really whelming. Maybe I'm in over my head."

"We'll all get through it. We're all along for this stupid ride. So let's go. Besides, I have to be debriefed." With a nod, two grappling hooks went off in unison and they scaled the mountain.

The conversation between the two made Robin have two new thoughts. First, that his slightly older self was extremely mature, and secondly, he had to find out why Nightwing wasn't nearly as understanding, especially since he was past Richard's stage.

.xX'-~-'Xx.

"…So now you know." Dick finished, letting out a breath. "If there's another one coming, Nightwing's explaining. I'm beat." They all stood, then turned to a shadowed corner, from which Batman came out.

"We can now call in the team, if you're all ready." They nod. "I trust you've already figured out what you want the team to know and what you don't want the team to know." Batman was turned to Dick, who in response also nodded. A look was shared.

_We're going to explain we're Robin from the future and how we got here, but we won't tell the history. That's too much._

Batman nodded, carefully thinking it over and all possible outcomes.

"Alright. Robin, go get the team." Carefully, as if the mood of the air was fragile, he left, hesitant but light steps echoing down the corridor.

.xX'-~-'Xx.

Meanwhile, in the distant future, a very concerned Tim, Barbara, and, although he would never admit it, Damian were trying to find all possible clues pointing to the reason for the missing Dick Grayson.

"This is impossible. We've been looking for a good three days now." Barbara said, frowning at another dead end. Her computer systems were the finest in Gotham and beyond thanks to Wayne Tech facilities and of course her skills. How could Oracle ever help anyone again if she couldn't even find Dick, the man she had been close to for God knows how long?

"Every lead we find turns out to be going nowhere. Not even extra-terrestrial sources have been tracked or evidenced." Damian deadpanned. Tim cried out angrily as his own screen betrayed him, however the facts were all there.

"We have to find him! We aren't looking hard enough!" Tim yelled, desperate. The Wayne penthouse echoed from his outburst, and the two with the man agreed.

"We are going to find Dick. Even if hot-head here pretends he doesn't care, we all want Dick back home." This earned a glare from Damian, but it instantly softened as she went on. "He's like the person that always makes us look at the bright side or just there when you need him." She finished, thoughtfully. "Besides, Gotham needs Batman and that's Dick right now. Actually…" She ponders, looking out the window to the streets of Gotham, "Gotham's been pretty calm recently. As if it were calmed by… By _magic_ or something. As if the absence of Dick's made crime not worth it."

Damian couldn't help but agree. Ever since his mentor left, he'd been training to get his mind off of things. However, it wasn't as good as the real thing and he'd been waiting for the alarm to go off so he could beat some criminal's brains in. That alarm never went off.

"Wait!" Barbara and Damian looked at Tim, expectant and eager. Maybe he had thought of another lead they hadn't thought of yet? "Magic! Of course!"

"Magic?"

"Don't you see? It could've been magic. Teleported somehow."

"Drake, you're more of an idiot than I realized."

"Tim! You're a genius!"

"I know." Tim was smug now but smiling wider than the Joker.

"You too, Gordon? It appears I'm the only sane person in this vicinity. As usual."

"No, look at it this way. All of the possible statistics and evidence have lead us nowhere. So if logic isn't working, then we have to go to the illogical solution. Magic is almost always conclusive in that situation." Barbara explains excitedly. "Gotham's full of messed up freaks, what else is new?"

"Oracle, go call Zatanna.**" **

.xX'-~-'Xx.

"Grayson's been missing for three days now!"

"Well, he hasn't picked up his phone and we've been trying to contact him but he hasn't been responding."

"He has to know that if he wants to be in the force, he has to be dedicated, not something he can just leave when he feels like it."

"I'm sure he has a reason for it. Did you notice that Nightwing's been MIA too?"

That was the gossip around the Blüdhaven Police Department currently. Although a lot of them had unconsciously made a connection between Nightwing and Richard Grayson, they all shoved the possibility down into their subconscious, never to leave their lips. You see, humans try their best to reject anything out of the ordinary. Even if the strangest thing happened right in front of them, they would try to rationalize that it wasn't real. Although they knew very well of aliens coming to earth, real magicians, cyborgs, robots, hyper-intelligent animals, and meta-humans, they refused the very though that a co-worker as ordinary as Richard Grayson could be their city's protector. They would never think Nightwing was Richard, which was perfect.

"Yeah, I heard that some goon's kidnapped him or something."

"Really? Where'd you hear that?"

"On the radio some place. He'll get out of it though, always does."

"Yeah, 'course. Oh, did you hear about that new movie coming out?"

And just like that, Richard Grayson was forgotten.

.xX'-~-'Xx.

"Cyborg! Our friend Robin has been missing for some time now! I am very worried he may not come back." Starfire says dejectedly, staring at the sewage water covered floor, tugging at her boots.

"This investigation with Plasmus going on with Robin being missing is pointless. His communicator and tracker aren't showing up, and there wasn't any evidence left. We've got nothing." Says Raven, her tone flat as always, but a bit worried. Beast Boy transforms from a dog to his human form.

"Without Robin, it's a lot harder. Who knew, right?" He sighs. "I didn't pick up anything except sewage and a few rats."

"Robin had me as second in charge and we have to at least finish this mission." Cyborg states, determined. "He would want us to keep going in his absence. We can look for Robin and take care of the toxic waste at the same time, but we can't just mope around the whole time. I know this is hard on all of us. I get that. But giving up isn't going to find Robin." Determination flashes in Cyborg's eyes. "We will find him." He finishes, looking each in the eye. They are suddenly all steel eyed and ready to carry on the mission.

"I just remembered something. Remember when Slade's mask had a chemical to make Robin hallucinate?" Raven says, inspired.

"Yeah, and then we had to go on a crazy, wild goose chase trying to look for Slade, who wasn't even there." Beast Boy explains, morphing into a goose and squawking around for good measure.

"Yes, but I had to go into Robin's mind." Raven starts to hover and gets into a meditation stance. "When I was in there, we formed a bond of some sort. Kind of like we're connected. 'Soul Siblings' per say."

"Does that mean you can perhaps find Robin?" Starfire exclaims, ecstatic.

"I just might." Raven looks at Cyborg, asking for permission. He nods.

"Do what you need to find Robin." Raven gives a final nod before levitating higher, eyes glowing white. Raven saw the usual things that appeared before being able to see what he sees, for example two mysterious (yet somehow significant) figures falling from a broken trapeze, Robin swearing an oath for _something_, and sometimes even Batman, and if he was feeling true distress, a man with his face half burned off flipping a coin. **(2)** She never bothered to pry, she once asked about the falling figures but it resulted in him being in a sour mood for a week. She kept a look out for specific memories flashing by to see what state of mentality he was in. Thankfully, that man wasn't there, but Batman was frequently, which meant he was confused and wanted guidance, and a lot of it.

She sees through Robin's eyes a cave with a giant computer. In it, a table and dim lighting. He doesn't seem to be in any pain but is confused, as shown by the Batman appearances. As soon as it starts, it ends.

"He's been teleported by some sort of magic. In a cave. I'm not sure where but he's fine. For now."

"Communications are still a no-go." Cyborg says, picking at several devices programmed into his arm.

"He's still somewhere on Earth, it's a start." Beast Boy states optimistically.

"I'm calling in Titans East."**(3)**

.xX'-~-'Xx.

(Robin just called the team in)

The team gravely came in, slowly and cautiously. Nightwing smirked in amusement as he noticed that they all looked ready to attack if necessary. Kaldur's silver eyes flicked around the room and landed on Richard.

"I see we have another visitor."

"Another one? What is this?" Superboy said, aggravated.

Richard wanted to go up to the team and tell them he missed them _oh so much_ but he knew he couldn't, shouldn't, and wouldn't. Instead, he reserves himself.

**(4)**_This is ridiculous! Batman's obviously off, he's brought danger to the cave. For all we know we could be slaughtered!_

_I don't know Wally, it's Batman. And Robin. They usually know what they're doing._

_How do we know that's the real Batman and Robin though?_

_Artemis has a point, M'gann._

"Why is he wearing Rob's old costume? Well, you know, without the short pants." Robin gave Wally a good elbow to the side for that comment, to which he glared at the Boy Wonder. Richard had to cringe at the short pants.

"I am Robin."

"No you're not, Robin's over here." Megan said, innocently.

"I would ask but I have a feeling you're about to explain it." Artemis says in a somewhat snarky voice.

"We're from the future."

"We _know_ that already. You told us earlier." Wally says exasperatedly, annoyed.

"I'll clear it up then. KF, it's me, but in the future."

They're all shocked.

_But Kaldur! They were with us the entire time. I checked their minds for the usual things I can identify with them as a failsafe. It's really them._

The cowl covering Dick's face suddenly feels like a burden as the team stares in shock, more than usual. He deters himself from taking it off. Robin stands in the row of, well, _himself_. Before the team stands the very timeline and legacy of Richard Grayson's hero career. Not that they knew it was Richard Grayson behind the masks.

"Robin, Boy Wonder, age 13." Robin says, smirking and over confident.

"Robin, Teen Wonder, age 16." Richard follows, also smirking.

"Nightwing, protector of Blüdhaven, age 24."

"Batman, Dark Knight, age 27."

"How can be sure? What if they are shape shifters? From different dimensions?" Kaldur, always the logical one, had to make sure.

"Their memories all match. I have tested DNA and they are all identical. They are who they say they are." All of them—the birds, at least—were mildly surprised. Of course, they knew that Batman would be the type to pull something like DNA verification but they couldn't tell when he'd done so. They resisted the urge to laugh as to not further confuse the YJLA.

_This whole thing is pissing me off._

"Alright." Each team member visibly relaxed, save for Conner and Artemis, who were still skeptical.

_I still don't think we should let our guard down._

_Just go along with it. I'm sure they're who they say they are. Batman checked. _

"We've come from an unidentifiable source." Dick pulled up a holographic image of his moment of capture. It showed the building ledges and then the bright light. "All we know is that we were captured by a bright violet light. We have yet to find out if this was for a particular reason or whether or not it was simply to cause havoc."

_I've been a place where even if you've known the person forever, they end up betraying you in the end. I'm keeping my guard up._

_I agree this situation is not ideal but it's a mission nonetheless._

The Robins stared at their older self at awe. They became Batman. Robin cringed. The events of the mental mission they went on and the therapy session with Black Canary was still fresh in his mind and he wasn't ready to accept he did actually become him. It seemed that he had finally gotten that _thing_ inside of Bruce. It wasn't clear whether or not he was willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of the mission, but he certainly showed the determination.

_Like every mission we need to focus on details, think and figure out what leads we can make._

_Yeah. So if you're done ranting, Arty, I'd like to try and pay attention._

_That was extremely uncharacteristic of you._

"They didn't capture us at vital parts of attack, as confirmed by this Batman." Nightwing gestured to Dick as an extra confirmation as to which Batman they were talking about. "We weren't here to simply be out of the way for a villain to take over. If anything, they would disintegrate us instead of sending us back in time." Nightwing said, pulling up various files and statistics. Maps and outlines of Gotham and Gotham underground, and Blüdhaven appeared briefly as the team tried their best to take it all in.

_I have my moments._

_Yeah right, moments? More like "I'm failing miserably at looking good in front of Megan." You're really pathetic, Baywatch._

_I have to admit. Their logic makes sense._

_Kaldur's right. And we need to just get focused._

"We tried to analyze the location of arrival—hey!" Richard abruptly stopped his bit of explanation, thoroughly confusing everyone in the room. Each person looked at him in anticipation.

"I really don't like it when people have telepathic discussions without me, especially when I know they're talking about me." The team was floored.

_How-How did he know that?_

_Maybe he gets powers somehow when he's older? And he can read minds?_

_No, no one intercepted or infiltrated our link. I know it._

_This is insane!_

All of their thoughts were shooting out, all alarmed at the other Robin's declaration.

"How did you know that?" Conner growled, eyes narrowed.

"You guys are still at that stage where you'll talk on the link but still be looking at each other with the same facial expressions as you would have with talking. Don't worry, eventually we got better at hiding it but you guys are still learning at this point of time. I think it doesn't really kick in until 3-4 months from now." Richard was smiling, remembering his time with YJLA. "Until then we'll—um, you'll be really obvious about it unless you're really concentrated in battle."

"You guys made a link without me? Geez KF!" Robin bit out, half-heartedly glaring at his team.

"I apologize, but you cannot blame us for having our doubts. However, I can truly believe that you are older Robin now." Richard smiled in satisfaction at Kaldur's statement. Even though he didn't mean for that to come out, he was ecstatic at the results.

"Perfect." Richard stated simply, smiling ear to ear. Absent-mindedly his gloved hand ran through his spiked hair. "You know, it has been that long since I…" He stops short, trailing off, and the smile drops from his face. Each of the members of the team looks at each other nervously, including Robin, even though he knew that he left for the Teen Titans. The Titans!

_I'm such a bad person. I never stopped to think about them._

He quickly shoves his guilt back down.

"I just, uh, miss this time period, I guess." Richard finishes, a small, humbling smile on his lips. Kaldur gives him a nod.

"Completely understandable, friend." The two shake hands.

Nightwing watches the exchange with a heavy heart, suddenly feeling sentimental. Before he could fight it off, he let the words leave his lips.

"Are you guys supposed to be training today?" As soon as he says it, he regrets it, but his playful, fun nature is getting the best of him.

"Actually that sounds fun. I haven't trained with you guys in awhile." Richard says, also eager for the training opportunity.

"Today was their day off. I think they need time to process the information they were just given."

"No." Artemis steps forward. "It's fine. I think a training session would be great after this. Get some tension out." Artemis had simply said what they were all thinking, every single person in the cave, even Batman and each time traveler. They all wanted to see what the other was capable of.

"Are you all completely positive you want to take your rest day?" Batman replies, eying each one.

"It'll be asterous." Robin says, smiling ear to ear.

"Fine. Older Robin, Nightwing, Batman," the last one is strange to say the least for Bruce to say it, but he has to. "You may stay in the cave to keep an eye on them." Each give grins, varying in size. They had been silently begging to stay with the team ever since they had been there.

"Cool! This Robin can stay in my room.**(5)**" Robin says, looking at Richard. They both nod.

"There aren't anymore of you coming, correct?" Kaldur eyes the four before turning to Batman.

"Well there aren't really any more time periods—" Richard stops his sentence right in the middle of his statement, the same fear gripping at the travelers' hearts.

_Oh my God._ Batman notices their distress and quietly, in a low voice, reassures them.

"That part of you isn't part of this and never will be. He doesn't have any relevance to this particular situation." Each are still worried, with quick-beating hearts but they take what he says just to reassure themselves. Confused looks are exchanged between the team but they stay quiet.

"Yes. There are none left."

Without a sound, Batman exits the room. Dick speaks up, using his Batman persona.

"We'll be training in a few hours. Go and rest for a bit and we'll call you."

"Cool. We get to train with the Flock." Wally says, zipping around the room.

"The Flock?" Conner says, confused.

"You know, because they all were Robins. And Robins in a group make a Flock of Robins. It's the Flock for short."

"Nerd." Artemis says, snickering. Surprisingly, the 'Flock' took to the nickname, humoring him.

"I kind of like it, actually." Nightwing says, mulling it over. "It's a lot easier than saying younger Robin, older Robin, Nightwing, and Batman."

"So it sticks."

Kaldur looks at the mischievous grins that the Flock had, very similar to the very same grins Robin and Kid Flash had given him when they wanted to infiltrate Cadmus.

.xX'-~-'Xx.

The Flock apparently had a lot of catching up to do, so the team was left alone in the common room, watching static with Superboy. They were grateful for the break time given because it simply was a lot to process. They shivered at the thought of what the Flock had to process before them if it was hard to just know about it, let alone, _be_ it.

"Why aren't they trying to hide it, like the movies? They're being pretty… blunt and kinda impulsive. It's pretty uncharacteristic for the Bats." Wally says.

"That's a good point." Megan says after awhile. "All the sitcoms on TV with this situation hide it from the characters until they eventually find out."

"Exactly why they're doing it." Artemis points out finally, after a moment of silence. "I know Gotham. Don't ask me why," she added quickly, "but I do. Gotham is crazy, as in beyond your wildest imagination and Batman and Robin know it like the backs of their hands. They have to deal with some of the most dangerous criminals on the planet _without powers!_ If they can figure out the minds of the crazies at Arkham, they can figure us out. They probably used "Bat-logic" or whatever. They knew that if they kept something like this from us, we'd find out and it'd be chaotic. We'd try to fix it ourselves, probably causing a huge mess." Artemis explains patiently.

"They were able to deduct that it would be easier with our knowledge and without us trying to meddle if they just told us straight out what was happening." Kaldur continues. "Most people would try and do that but with their advanced knowledge of statistics, sequence, and life in general, they knew this was the most logical decision." Wally snorts before his statement.

"Knowing Bats and Rob, they probably all just looked at each other and decided it."

"It makes sense." Conner agrees, taking it in. _Of course they would have it down to the last detail. _He notes.

"…I will never get Bats." Wally says with a grimace.

.xX'-~-Xx.

A/N So that's the end of chapter 2 everyone! I'm sorry; it's shorter than last time. As in a thousand words shorter. And it's less exciting. I'M SO FREAKING SORRY! This was originally going to be a GIANT chapter. Like I'm talking maybe 30 pages? That's too long. As you can see it took me long enough to plot out and write this first half. So instead, I compressed it and then split it into two.

THEY'RE GONNA TRAIN NEXT CHAPTER. HOW AWESOME! Slight Spoiler: The 'Flock' as Wally and I so affectionately call them, train with each other while the team was having their little "Bat-logic" convo.

Ahem. So I'm really excited.

Sorry if this disappointed you and I'm sorry it took so long! All my teachers decided to go and pile on tests and projects so they could get it done before Winter Break. I still have a test and piles of homework due tomorrow, the last day before Winter Break. Happy Holidays to you too, teachers.

So yeah. Oh, I'd like to also reply to a reviewer named Jaxii whose review literally made me jump up and down with joy. (I would've just sent a message but she/he disabled that feature :O)

**Anyways, thank you for everything you've said! This is really my first attempt at being a better writer. My other stories… let's just say I should really get around to deleting them. So knowing that I've done a little bit right is really encouraging for me. I promise I'll get better at the A/Ns, haha, I just really needed to say those three items so that people wouldn't be confused. I'll start putting it at the bottom. I really did love the concept she did and I wanted to make sure she got proper credit. I also wanted to make sure that people didn't get confused why Starfire is so bubbly and happy when in the comics she is DEFINITELY not as peppy. Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a wonderful review I promise you, angsty Nightwing will come back, but for now I'll make him fun. I really hope that I didn't just scare you away with this terribly boring chapter… (And yes. Damian is so freaking adorable :P)**

There we go guys, thanks for being patient and reading

**(1)Just for the sake of the plot, let's say Richard knew about Jason and Jason was serving as Robin in Gotham while Richard is with the Titans. Because for some reason, Gotham **_**really **_**needed a Robin and Richard couldn't be him.**

**(2)Two Face. Yeah. I'm going to assume that Two-Face capturing Robin and pretty much scarring him for life would be associated with scary times, right?**

**(3)NOT THE EVIL TITANS EAST. In Teen Titans the cartoon, Titan East is just another extension of the Titans. It includes Garth/Aqualad, Bumblebee, and Jinx. ** ** I'm excited, how about you? SPOILER: The Aqualads will meet and compare notes (wink wink nudge nudge)**

**(4)The team is having a telepathic conversation and I didn't make it in sync with the out-loud conversation they were having with the Bats. So sorry if that's confusing.**

**(5)Maybe if Bats needs to go on a mission and Alfred is out for whatever reason, he has a room to sleep in at the cave? So do Wally and Artemis.**


End file.
